Picks & Pecks Editorial: Arrest is welcome news

Parents in Northern Solano County -- and around the Bay Area, for that matter -- breathed a sigh of relief Friday morning when Fairfield police announced that a suspect had been arrested in connection with the death of a 13-year-old Suisun City girl whose body was found in Allan Witt Park the previous week. It was also welcome news to those who attended Friday night's vigil for Genelle Renee Conway-Allen. Fairfield police and other law officers worked around-the-clock to solve the case. They get the pick.

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Meanwhile in Fairfield, a pair of "brazen" robbers held up a custodian at Sem Yeto Continuation School and forced him to turn over the school's cache of about 40 iPads. This is the third time the school's electronics gear has been stolen. One would think that, by now, someone would have installed the "Find My iPad" app. A peck.

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Congratulations to Cooper Elementary School sixth-grader Alex Topp and Vaca Peña Middle School student Patricia Acuna, winners of their respective divisions in the 2013 Grace B. Powell Citywide Spelling Bee. The annual word war, sponsored by the Vacaville Rotary Club, drew more than 50 top spellers to Brenden Theaters in Vacaville on Wednesday. Picks all around.

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Members of Vacaville's Murray family aren't the only ones creating valentines for veterans. Nearly a dozen schools and organizations are also contributing to next week's annual National Salute to Veterans -- just as they've done for a decade now. They also know that if they turn in their creations at the Vacaville Veterans Hall, the cards will be properly distributed. Another example of picks all around.

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The Vacaville Boys & Girls Club board made an excellent choice in selecting Anna Eaton to serve as its executive director. Ms. Eaton has a decade of experience with Fairfield's Department of Parks and Recreation and she's been serving as the Boys & Girls Club interim director for nearly a year. A pick.

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Those are some fancy rigs that the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano is driving now, thanks to a grant from Kraft Foods. The refrigerated mobile pantries allow the Food Bank to distribute badly needed fresh produce in both counties. A pick.

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They claim it's not an opposition rally and yet, judging from a flier put out by the mysterious sponsors of a Vacaville forum to discuss the One Bay Area Plan, it would seem they are pretty much against it. "Your property rights are at risk!!" it screams. "Resistance is NOT Futile!" Just for the record, One Bay Area is a regional housing and transportation plan developed by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments -- both of which are overseen by boards of elected officials, including some from Solano County. Information about it can be found online at http://onebayarea.org. As for the Feb. 28 forum at Travis Credit Union's Community Room, the peck is for the lack of transparency about the sponsors and their intent.